The Miracle and the Sleeper-Part 4
by Exodus
Summary: This part gets into who Azrael is and who (or what) Buffy is...


I do not own the characters (except maybe Azrael)…

This is the fourth part of ?? and it takes place right about now in Season 5.

Please review and let me know if you like my take on Slayer origins…I am just about as bad on continuity as the actual writers…so let me know if I slipped up.

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The Miracle and the Sleeper-Part 4

Buffy rose from her seat and took Azrael's outstretched hand. She closed her eyes tightly and seemed to be bracing herself for some impact.

Azrael gave Giles a puzzled look. "What, pray-tell, are you doing?" He asked in an amused voice.

Buffy opened her eyes and looked at Azrael. "Aren't you going to zap us somewhere?" she asked.

Azrael grinned a little, trying to stifle a laugh. "It's such a nice day…I thought we could walk."

Buffy looked for some furniture to crawl under as she let go of his hand and turned to leave.

Giles looked a bit uncomfortable with the idea of letting the two go alone. He was still not sure they could completely trust this stranger.

Azrael noticed his discomfort. "Don't worry dad…I'll have her home before dark." He chuckled a little as he put on a pair of reflective sunglasses.

"Do be careful." Giles directed his comment at Buffy, hoping she could handle whatever this person was about to show her.

Azrael and Buffy strolled down the tree-lined street that led from Giles' house to the downtown district of Sunnydale. A gentle breeze and warm sunshine hid the true nature of this town. Buffy breathed in deeply, trying to put this 'Armageddon' out of her mind for a bit.

"So, what's with the Ray-bans?" she asked, trying to break the silence.

"Would you walk around town in broad daylight with no disguise if **your** eyes glowed?" he questioningly replied.

"Good point. So, where exactly are we going?"

"We are…going right here." He turned into the park, walking directly toward a fountain.

Azrael tilted his head back, letting the cool breeze blow over his skin. Buffy almost gasped when she saw the scar, which ringed half of his neck. It looked like his throat had been slit at some point.

When they reached the fountain, Azrael sat down and waited for Buffy to do the same.

"Here?" Buffy asked. "In the park…by the fountain…less than a mile from Giles' house where there was coffee?" Buffy was growing annoyed with his cloak and dagger antics.

"We need a place to talk privately. This should do." Azrael said, never looking at Buffy.

Buffy plopped down beside him, angry that she had let him dupe her into coming here.

"OK…" she started "lay the heavy stuff on me." Buffy gave him her toughest look, but he just leaned back and seemed to be staring at the sun.

"You know…The sun is something I don't see much. You know, following you on patrol at night and all. I tried to stay away from you during the day…let you have your **normal** life." Azrael chuckled.

"Oh, gee-whiz thanks for **that** help." Buffy said, thinking about how abnormal her life had been since being chosen.

"You know…" he started again "you can't go on doing this…trying to act like one of them."

"One of **who**?" Buffy asked. She was more than a little annoyed that he didn't understand that she realized how different she was.

"Oh, I understand…" he said, answering her thought. "I understand that you think you are one of them. Just like all the others."

"Wait, you can read my thoughts? Oh, great…read this." Buffy thought up every dirty word she knew.

"Hey…" Azrael turned to face her for the first time since sitting down. "Do you kiss your mother with that brain?"

"So even if I was to survive the apocalypse…You are saying I still can't be a regular girl?" Buffy's tone was both demanding and sad.

"Regular girl…Ha! How will you ever be a regular girl…you aren't even an irregular girl. Well, maybe in some sense, but the details are all very sketchy." Azrael now took off his sunglasses as Buffy nearly choked from the thought that she was even more different than she had thought.

"Child…What makes a human a human? Is it a soul? Is it a body shape or color? Is a **vampire** human? Am **I** human?" 

Buffy could not form a thought, much less answer his questions.

"I walk like a man and talk like a man, but I am not one. Do you remember hearing that before?" Azrael looked intensely into her eyes. He saw the recognition immediately. "The same goes for me. The same…goes for you. Oh…except you're a woman." He looked her up and down, then wiggled his eyebrows like he was hitting on her.

Again, Buffy's head was too filled with horror and disbelief to speak.

"A human is a funny thing. It eats, sleeps…even **shops**." Again, Azrael grinned slightly, knowing that she remembered the words from her dream. "You…though not actually **a** demon…are not quite human either."

"You're lying." Buffy yelled through tears. Even as she tried to deny his words, she realized it explained a lot.

Azrael looked off to some children playing in the distance. "Them…that's what it is all about, isn't it? Humans…they are so fragile and weak when children. They never really get over the fragile part. You, however, can snap a demon's neck with two hands. You can jump higher…run faster…fight harder than any of them. So why can't you accept that you are not one of them? You are stronger than the strongest human male you have ever met. Where do you think your powers come from? Humans…are human. It is **that** simple. If you were human, how could you do the things you do? A twenty year old human girl can not fight vampires."

Buffy's face was almost expressionless. Her tear stained cheeks the only sign of emotion.

"So what am I?" she asked.

"You are something entirely different." Azrael replied, an obvious sadness in his own voice. "I knew that coming to you would cause more pain, but it is something you need to know. When the last demon to inhabit this earth harmed a human, the human turned into a vampire. He did not realize the implications of his actions until it was too late and they were multiplying. He had a human love, and with her he created the other race, the slayers. He did not realize that his two very different offspring would become mortal enemies. Destined to hate each other to the very core of their being. His foolishness ensured that the human race would suffer for as long as they walked the earth. Locked in an eternal struggle. He thought he was going to create something beautiful, but others did not see it the same way."

Buffy looked up at Azrael again, confusion filling her eyes. "Whatever happened to him? The one who did this?"

Azrael turned his eyes away from her. "Don't worry…He was punished for his foolishness. He suffers eternally thanks to the powers that be."

"That doesn't explain how slayers are called…What about my mom? She is human. I'm sure of that." Buffy needed to know everything now.

"The slayer race is more like a dormant gene. It travels through the bloodlines of countless families. When two such families combine to produce offspring…Abracadabra…A slayer is born."

Buffy shook her head in acceptance. "So mom and dad both carried the gene? Right?" 

"Correct. But not **every** child born like this is called. Imagine how hard it would be to control a small army of superhuman women. There would be nothing to stop them from doing whatever they wanted. I'm sure you remember Faith?"

Buffy held back a laugh. "Yep. An army of menopausal superbitcas would be of the ubersuck."

They were both silent as they exchanged smiles at the thought.

"So this super demon guy who caused all of these problems…what was his name?" Buffy was now realizing that **this** was the darkness Dracula spoke about. The source of her powers.

"His name…was Azrael."


End file.
